The 2025 NHL Winter Classic will feature the Chicago Blackhawks hosting the St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field in Chicago, the league announced on Wednesday.
There is no date or time yet for the game. The NCAA College Football Playoff quarterfinals will take place on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. next season, which the NHL has typically avoided going up against in the past when scheduling the Winter Classic.
This will be the second outdoor game that will feature both teams. The Blues topped the Blackhawks, 4-1, in the 2017 Winter Classic at Busch Stadium.
The 2025 matchup will be the seventh outdoor game the Blackhawks will have participated in and the fifth Winter Classic with them involved. They last played at Wrigley Field for the 2009 Winter Classic against the Detroit Red Wings.
“The Friendly Confines” will be only the second venue to host multiple Winter Classics after Boston’s Fenway Park (2010, 2023).
Connor Bedard, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, has been a big draw on television this season. With the Blackhawks currently sitting dead-last in the league, they are primed to add another top-notch young talent to their roster ahead of next season.
As television rules everything, the Blackhawks have traditionally been a ratings draw, which is why they’re back in the game, which will air on TNT. According to the Sun-Times, this season’s Winter Classic, which featured the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, drew a lower rating than Bedard’s NHL debut in October. It was the first time since the Winter Classic began as an annual event in 2008 that it had not been the most-watched regular season game.
Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Stateline, Nevada, Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field and New York’s Yankee Stadium have hosted more than one outdoor game, which includes Winter Classics, Heritage Classics and Stadium Series games.
MetLife Stadium in New Jersey will be added to that list after next week’s Stadium Series games featuring the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers.
